Please allow us to address you and to address through you the peoples
and women of the world knowing very well that you are following with
concern what is going on in the Sudan, and the suffering, humiliation,
and oppression the Sudanese people are subjected to.

The inhumane practices of the National Islamic Front (NIF) regime,
especially with regard to women, are numerous to the extent that they
cannot be stated in this limited space. However, we are focusing on
the human rights violations that are conducted with disregard to the
international conventions or the resolutions of human rights
committees that all call for the respect and protection of freedoms
with special consideration and great concern to the young and the
youth.

The Sudanese regime’s insistence on the oppression and
humiliation of the citizens has caused the Sudanese people, especially
mothers, a gravely dangerous tragedy through forcing our children, the
students of Sudan General Certificate (SGC) whose ages range between
16—18 years old, into the furnaces of a false jihadic war
under the pretext that it is a national service. The reality is that
the issue is not a national service, because since the
beginning it took different forms: at one point it was a jihad
against the infidels, at another it was a defense of the country
against a foreign invasion, and finally it has been for the protection
and defense of the regime after it had liquidated the Sudanese Armed
Forces that is supposed to be entrusted to defend the country and the
citizens. Thus, under the compulsory service law, and through
deceiving families with false mottos, thousands of students have been
crammed by force into poorly prepared military training camps. The
students under this law, will not be able to receive the results of
Sudan General Certificate [their only means to be enrolled in
universities programs] except through these camps and the military
operations zones. As for those who are out of school and
universities, the security forces have been chasing them in the
streets, homes, public transportation, with the intention to cleanse
the capital city of the youth.

The war, whose flames the regime has been fueling, has depleted our
people’s economic resources, and claimed the lives of thousands
of our youth, while the rest have been suffering physical and
psychological diseases. In justification of these camps, 18 billion
Sudanese pounds have been spent, the money that is badly needed by the
Armed Forces, and the educational institutions that are impoverished
of books and teachers.

The regime has been announcing now, shamelessly, that the next
examinations of SGC will be held inside the military camps. Can
students be in a psychological state that would enable them to sit for
the exams? Would their needs be met? This is our youth, half of the
present and all the future, have been deprived by this regime of their
freedom of choice, their self-esteem has been shaken, and now they are
in a state of perpexity and loss.

Messrs. Representatives of International Organizations Messrs.
Representatives of the world Governments and Peoples

In the name of the national Sudanese Women’s Association, and on
behalf of Sudanese mothers, we respectfully appeal to you and to the
peoples and women of the world to stand by us [in our efforts to] stop
these crimes that have been committed against Sudanese mothers,
students and the country. [We appeal to you to stand by us in our
demands to] have those [children] still alive back immediately from
operations zones, declare the names of those killed, those missing,
injured, and to give the families the results of their
children’s examinations and certificates, it is their legitimate
right.

We thank you and confirm our appreciation for what you do for our
people.

The Sudanese Women’s Association (SWA) is a national legal
entity representing Sudanese women and mothers from all walks of life.
The Memorandum has officially been made available by the Sudanese
Opposition National Democratic Alliance( NDA), Secretary
General’s Office in Asmara as part of a press release issued on
December 2, 1997. The original text of the memorandum was in Arabic.
English Translation courtesy of al-Sudan Center for Democracy, Peace,
and Civil Rights.